Visiting My Pinetum

September 9, 2024

There is always so much to see and learn about at my Bedford, New York farm.

Over the years I have designed many gardens around my home. One area that is constantly evolving is my pinetum - an arboretum of pine trees and other conifers I planted in a field behind my large Equipment Barn and near my weeping willow grove. This collection has grown extremely well and I continue to add additional specimens every year.

Here are some photos, enjoy.

: When I first bought my farm, I knew I wanted to plant many, many trees – young trees, to replace the older ones when their lives ended. This collection includes pine trees, but I have also included many spruces, firs, and other interesting evergreens.

: Once trees are mature, they need little maintenance except for regular mulching and removal of dead or diseased branches. I keep the ground well-mulched using material made right here at the farm.

: On one side of this pinetum are the tall and gorgeous weeping willows. Weeping willows are wide and tall with beautiful curtains of drooping branches that sweep the ground. I have several groves of weeping willow trees growing at my farm.

: Their graceful branches “weep” into an arch, creating a round canopy.

: The leaves are long and narrow with a light green color and a finely toothed margin.

: Weeping willow trees can grow to be 30 to 50 feet tall, with a spread of roughly 30 to 40 feet. They’re often planted near damp areas, but can also grow in other places as long as they get enough water and sun.

: Other trees growing here include this dwarf white pine tree. If you’re not sure how to tell some of these popular trees apart, here are some key tips: pines have needles that are arranged and attached to the branches in clusters of two, three or five. Spruce and fir trees have needles attached individually to the branches.

: The needles on this dwarf white pine are soft and blue-green in color.

: Picea abies ‘Pendula’ is used as a collective term that describes the myriad weeping and pendulous forms of Norway spruce. The Norway spruce or European spruce is a species of spruce native to Northern, Central, and Eastern Europe. Its uniquely trained form adds so much interest in this pinetum.

: This is a baby blue spruce, Picea pungens ‘Baby Blue.’ This dwarf blue spruce tree stays under 25 feet.

: This is a fir. Firs, Abies, have needles that are softer, flatter, and cannot be easily rolled between the fingers.

: Picea orientalis ‘Skylands’ has bright yellow needles in full sun or yellow-green needles in part shade. The yellow color typically fades as summer progresses. The interior needles are always green. This is one of my favorite trees in this pinetum because of its name, but the name ‘Skylands’ has no relation to my home in Maine. Actually, this tree was introduced by Skylands Botanical Garden in New Jersey, in 1979.

: These are the branches of a Japanese Yew, Emerald Spreader, a cold hardy, evergreen shrub that is strong, sturdy, and retains its green color even in winter.

: Chamaecyparis pisifera ‘Filifera’ is commonly known as Sawara cypress, a large, pyramidal, evergreen conifer that grows in the wild up to 70 feet tall. In cultivation, it more typically matures to a much smaller 30 feet tall. It is native to the Japanese islands of Honshu and Kyushu.

: Picea orientalis is a medium to large tree that commonly grows up to 50 feet tall. It has a dense narrowly conical form, horizontal to upward sweeping branches, and drooping lateral branches.

: Callitropsis nootkatensis ‘Pendula’ or weeping Alaskan cedar, is a slender, strongly weeping form that grows to as much as 35-feet tall.

: It has widely spaced ascending to horizontal branches with flattened sprays of blue-green leaves.

: This is a Cedrus deodara ‘Wells Golden’ – an upright true cedar with rich, golden color, which is beautiful in winter. It can grow up to 30-feet tall.